“I think we can fit the four of us in the Sebring.”
“How about five?”
“Five?” Sam raised an eyebrow.
Lisa nodded and pointed to Lynnie sitting on the bench thoroughly engrossed in her book.
Sam nodded. “Five it is.”
“C’mon Lynnie,” Lisa yelled over. “We’re going home.”
Lynnie didn’t move.
“Lynnie, c’mon. My friend is here, and we have to go.”
Once again Lynnie didn’t acknowledge Lisa’s existence, so Lisa walked over letting her shadow fall across the book.
“What?” Lynnie snapped and looked up at her sister. “I’m reading. Mama said I could.”
“I know, but my friend is here, and we have to go.”
“So?”
Lisa looked heavenward for a moment. Why did Lynnie have to be a pain in the butt in front of Sam? She sighed. “You can read at home. I’ll make sure Lawrence Jr. stays out of your room, okay? I’ll set him and Bridget up with a DVD or something, okay?”
Lynnie seemed to consider it. “Okay.” She stood up. She looked at Sam and said, “Is that Tara?”
“What? Tara? Where did you get that idea?” Lisa had never talked about Tara to anybody, and definitely not to her sister. She must have overheard a phone conversation or something.
Lynnie shrugged.
“That’s my friend Sam.” She motioned for Sam to come over. “Sam, this is my sister Lynnie.”
“Nice to meet you Lynnie.” Sam stuck her hand out.
Lynnie politely shook Sam’s hand and headed toward the playground gate.
Sam raised an eyebrow. Lisa shrugged and whispered, “I think she’s got middle-child syndrome or something. I don’t know.”
Sam nodded, and they headed to the car. She opened the passenger door and pulled the front seat forward. “Okay, everybody, hop in.”
AFTER SAFELY SECURING her siblings in the house with her mother, Lisa got back in Sam’s convertible. “This is a nice car.”
“Thanks. My parents bought it for me when I got my permit last year, but I have to pay the running expenses like gas, oil changes, maintenance—that kind of stuff. So where’s this famous bowling alley of yours?”
“Valley Lanes? Okay, go out here.” Lisa pointed the way out of her neighborhood toward the main road. “Go left on C.R. 62, and then I’ll guide you once we get closer.”
“Cool.”
“So, how’s Susie?” Lisa wasn’t sure how much Sam knew about Susie and Marlee’s relationship.
“Honestly, I don’t know.” Sam signaled left and then pulled onto the two-lane highway. “She wouldn’t talk to me. She dropped me off without a word and then sped away. Something happened in Marlee’s room, that’s for sure.”
“They were, uh, they were becoming good friends.” Lisa didn’t elaborate.
“Yeah, they were.”
Hmm, Lisa thought, neither of us is saying it. Maybe she doesn’t know anything. Or maybe she thinks I don’t know anything. “Maybe Marlee doesn’t want to have any more friends from East Valley after her trip to the hospital last night.”
Sam sighed. “Maybe. Do you feel the same way?” Sam kept her eyes focused on the road.
“No,” Lisa said simply. “I think I can stand to be around a few East Valley Panthers.”
Sam smiled. “Good.”
Sam pulled into the parking lot of the bowling alley and found a spot near the door. They rented shoes, found bowling balls, and made their way to lane twelve at the far end of the alley.
Lisa pulled on the rented shoes and was self-conscious of her size ten feet compared to Sam’s size sevens. She tucked her sneakers under the bench and sat at the scorer’s table. “What should I put for your name? Sam or Two?”
Sam laughed. “Marlee calls me Two because I play second base, so put Two for me and C for you.”
Lisa nodded and typed it in. “I put you up first, Two.”
“That suddenly sounded really silly.” Sam grimaced.
Lisa laughed. “I know. Let’s stick with Sam.”
Sam nodded in agreement and then grabbed the electric orange ball she had selected. She took her approach toward the pins and tossed an unglamorous gutter ball.
Sam turned around and grimaced. “Maybe we should have practiced first.”
“Hey, nothing says I’m gonna do any better, eh?”
Sam smiled, and Lisa wasn’t sure, but she thought maybe Sam blushed. Sam hadn’t changed clothes since Marlee’s house, and the red, white, and blue bowling shoes looked totally out of place with her white Capri’s and salmon silk shirt. Lisa felt underdressed in her blue jeans and retro red v-neck Adidas shirt with three white stripes on each sleeve.
Sam knocked down three whole pins on her next ball. “At this rate, I’ll have a thirty by the time we’re finished.”
Lisa laughed and got ready for her first throw. The ball hit the one pin dead on and sent it and the other nine pins flying. She couldn’t help her smile when she turned around.
“Nice strike.” Sam held out a fist for Lisa to punch. “God, you’re strong.”
Lisa felt her face get warm. “Thanks.” She sat down at the scorer’s table, and Sam got ready for her next turn.
Lisa took a deep breath to calm her pounding heart and wondered what she was doing at the bowling alley with a girl she hardly knew. Lisa threw a thumbs-up when Sam knocked down five pins, but then she took a quick breath and pledged, I will take this one slow. I will not fall in three minutes like I did for Tara.
Sam pointed to the pins. “Hey, look at that.”
Lisa had been too busy trying to stay sane that she hadn’t noticed Sam’s spare. “Geez, are you some kind of bowling shark?”
Sam waggled her eyebrows. “Actually, no. Bowling, skiing, ice skating—I suck at those. Softball, tennis, golf, and ping-pong I’m good at.”
Lisa wondered what else Sam was good at.
After Sam’s brief moment of greatness, her bowling skills deteriorated again to gutter balls and low pin counts. Lisa won the first game easily by a score of 130 to 65.
Sam sat next to Lisa at the scorer’s table. With a shaky hand, Lisa hit the buttons to start a second game. She knew she should stand up, grab her ball, and start the next game, but she couldn’t bring herself to move.
Sam asked, “You, uh, want to get out of here?”
Lisa nodded and took a slow breath.
“Okay, I’ll go pay. Think of somewhere we can go to, uh, talk.”
Lisa nodded again. She groaned as soon as Sam left. She was already breaking the promise she’d just made to herself.
Lisa directed Sam to the Clarksonville County Community College softball field. She’d thought about going to Lake Birch, but Marlee said she and Bobby used to go there, and she didn’t want to think about Marlee.
The softball field was located in a remote back corner of the college campus. The field and parking lot were surrounded by a thick oak forest. No other buildings could be seen from the lot.
Sam pulled into a parking spot at the very end of the lot facing right field. “Nice spot,” Sam said. “It’s pretty secluded.”
“Yeah.” That’s why I chose it. Lisa felt a rush of heat run through her.
Sam turned off the engine, undid her seatbelt, and swiveled to face Lisa. Lisa tried to swivel as well, but got caught on her fastened seatbelt.
“Oh, geez,” Lisa sputtered and undid the belt. She turned to face Sam. “So…”
“Yeah…”
“Here we are.” Lisa looked down at her hands.
“So, uh, you have a lot of brothers and sisters.”
“Just the three.” Lisa laughed. “But, it feels like an army sometimes.”
Sam chuckled. “I don’t have any.”
“You’re an only child? I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah. Just me.”
Lisa couldn’t imagine being the only kid in a family. Actually, she had been the only child until she w
as six and then Lynnie came along, but she barely remembered that time. “Do you get lonely?”
“Sometimes, but I don’t know anything different actually. I spend a lot of time with Helene because Daddy’s got his meetings, and Mother’s got her committees.”
“Who’s Helene?”
“Helene’s my nanny.”
Lisa laughed. “You have a nanny?”
Sam smiled. “Well, she’s not really my nanny anymore. She lives with us, and she’s sort of our housekeeper, cook, and, um, well I guess she takes care of everybody. Mom, Dad, me.”
“Oh, so she’s everybody’s nanny.”
Sam laughed and tapped the console between them. “Yeah, I guess she’s the nanny for the whole Payton Family.”
“Payton? That’s your last name?”
Sam nodded.
Lisa grinned, but then shook her head. “Samantha Payton, I hope you’re not a serial killer or something, because I don’t know anything about you. I don’t even know what grade you’re in.”
“Eleventh.”
“Tenth.” She pointed to herself. “So, you’re seventeen?” Sam nodded. “That explains why you have your license. I won’t get mine until next February.”
“I’ll have to chauffeur you around until then.” Sam reached over the console and put her hand on top of Lisa’s.
Lisa’s heart sped up. “It’s a long way to Clarksonville from East Valley.” Sam’s hand still rested on hers. Oh, God, this was a Tara moment. Lisa pulled her hand away pretending she needed to push a lock of hair behind her ear.
Sam pulled her hand back as if nothing had happened. “Hey, that gate is open. Let’s walk around the field.”
“Okay.” Lisa breathed a sigh of relief. Things were moving a little too fast. Lisa opened the car door and took a deep breath of the late afternoon air. The sun had begun to recede in the sky, and she shivered in the slight chill.
Sam opened the gate, and Lisa fell into step beside her as they headed toward home plate.
Sam took a practice swing in the batter’s box. “So, why did you tell me Marlee’s pitches last night?”
Lisa felt her cheeks get hot. She decided to tell the truth and see what happened. “I was flirting.”
“I see.”
They walked up the first base line in silence. When they stepped on first base, Lisa asked, “Why were you so friendly the first time we played you guys?” Lisa kept her eyes focused on the outfield fence, because she couldn’t look Sam in the eye.
“I was flirting.”
“Ah.”
“Did you know?” Sam raised an eyebrow.
Lisa laughed. “No. I had, uh, other things on my mind.” Named Marlee.
“Oh.” Sam’s voice held a hint of disappointment.
“I don’t have those other things on my mind anymore. Well, actually, it was one other thing, but not anymore.”
“Oh.” There was a happy lilt to Sam’s voice that time. They touched second base and headed toward third. A robin hunting for worms flew off to left field as they passed. “Can I interest you in a tour of the third base dugout?”
Lisa nodded, and when they reached the dugout, Sam held the gate open for her.
Lisa walked in and turned around. “So, how about you? Do you have other, uh, things on your mind?”
“Just one.” Sam stepped closer.
Lisa’s heart sped up again. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah.” Sam touched Lisa’s cheek gently. “You.”
Lisa inhaled sharply. “Me?”
Sam responded by putting both hands on each side of Lisa’s face and pulling her closer until their noses touched.
Lisa moved forward until their lips met. Sam’s lips were warm and, oh, so soft. Their kiss was soft at first, but heated up quickly. Sam moved a hand behind Lisa’s neck and pulled her closer. Lisa wrapped her arms around Sam’s waist.
After several minutes, Sam pulled away, but rested her forehead on Lisa’s. “Oh, my God.” She was out of breath.
“I know.” Lisa put a hand on Sam’s chest, just beneath her neck, and spread her fingers. “I wish—I wish…”
“What?”
Lisa wanted to say she wished they could have taken things slower, but Sam had stirred her up so much, that she didn’t care. “I wish you would do that again.”
Sam reached down and lifted Lisa’s hand to her lips. She kissed each finger in turn and then tilted her head back in invitation. Lisa put her free hand around Sam’s waist and pulled her close until there wasn’t room for even a single molecule between them. She kissed her. After a few minutes, Lisa finally pulled away breathless. She placed her cheek against Sam’s. “You feel so good,” she murmured.
“So do you.” Sam nuzzled against Lisa’s neck sending shivers to her toes.
Lisa pulled away and held Sam at arm’s length. “Are we moving too fast?”
Sam held Lisa’s gaze. “Lisa, I’ve liked you since last year.”
“Last year? I didn’t even know—”
“I know. You didn’t even know I was alive. I never knew how to tell you. I mean, you’re so strong and confident. And so tall.” Sam laughed. “I was desperate to find a way to get to know you, and when Susie and Marlee started seeing each other—”
“I knew it.” Lisa smacked her thigh.
“You didn’t know about them?”
Lisa shook her head. “I didn’t know for sure. I’ve only come out to one other person. My ex.”
“You have an ex?”
Lisa looked down at her feet. “Yeah. She dumped me about a month ago.”
A car drove down the road by the field. Sam tapped Lisa on the arm. “C’mon, let’s go to the car.”
“Okay.”
They headed out of the dugout toward Sam’s car.
Sam held open the gate for the field. “Is she on your team?”
“Who?”
Sam chuckled. “Your ex.”
“Geez, no. I met her at softball camp. She lives on Long Island.”
“That’s pretty far away.”
“Yeah.” Lisa laughed. “I guess that’s why it didn’t work out. She’s a senior.”
“A senior? Phew, now I don’t feel so bad robbing the cradle.”
Lisa grinned. “Is that what you’re doing?”
Sam opened the passenger door for Lisa. “Yep.”
Lisa got in, reached over, and unlocked Sam’s door.
“So what about all of your exes, eh?” Lisa raised her eyebrows. “I bet you’ve got them lining up out the door.”
Sam started the engine and faked a frown. “What makes you think I have any?”
Liza grinned and pulled Sam to her. She put both hands on Sam’s face and kissed her. “That’s how.”
“Oh, uh, well, yeah. I guess I do have an ex. Just the one.” Sam didn’t elaborate and pulled out of the parking spot. She turned on her headlights in the deepening twilight.
“Well? Who is she?”
Sam didn’t answer right away. She seemed to be concentrating on pulling out onto the main road. She took a deep breath. “You don’t know her.”
“Try me,” Lisa insisted.
“Oh, she’s just a girl I played with on my summer travel team.”
“Who?”
“Oh, uh, the Northwood shortstop.”
“Geez, you mean when you guys played Northwood a couple of weeks ago, your ex was on the field?”
Sam nodded.
“Was that hard for you? Playing against your ex?”
“Kind of, but we went our separate ways in September when school started. We’ve both officially moved on I think.”
Lisa wouldn’t ever let on that the tiniest of flames still burned in her heart for Tara, the hoodlum from Long Island. She smiled shyly at Sam. “I think my second is turning out much better than my first.”
“Me, too. Second is way better. Times a thousand.” She sent Lisa a look that melted Lisa’s toes.
Lisa cleared her throat and reached for Sam�
�s hand. “I’m so glad you drove back to Clarksonville, today.”
“Me, too.” Sam swerved the car into an abandoned gas station and slammed the car into park. “Kiss me and show me how glad you are.”
Chapter Seven
Second Base
LISA CUT BRIDGET’S hot dog into small chunks. Bridget stabbed a piece with her fork and dipped it into her mashed potatoes.
Sam grimaced. “I’ve never seen that, uh, particular food combination before.”
Lisa’s mother laughed. “You’ll never know if you like it unless you try it.” She held out the bowl of mashed potatoes toward Sam.
Sam shrugged. “Why not? A Memorial Day barbeque just isn’t the same without mashed potatoes, right?” She plopped a small scoop on her paper plate.
“That’s the spirit,” Lisa’s father said. “Sweetpea, pass Samantha the plate of hot dogs.”
Bridget sat between Sam and Lisa at the picnic table under the maple tree in the Brown’s small back yard. The tree produced enough shade to keep the bright sunlight out of their eyes. Lisa helped her little sister lift up the plate.
“Here Samtha,” Bridget said.
Sam stabbed for a hot dog with her plastic fork. “Thanks.” She put the hot dog on her plate, cut off a slice with her knife, and stabbed it with her fork. She held the hotdog slice poised over the mound of mashed potatoes. “Like this?”
Bridget nodded.
“Okay.” Sam blew out a sigh as if steeling herself to eat octopus. She dipped the hot dog into the creamy white potatoes and took a bite. “This is surprisingly good.” She took another bite.
Lisa laughed. “Hey, looks like you’re one of the family now.”
“Cool.” Sam smiled. “Thanks for inviting me over Mr. and Mrs. Brown. My family doesn’t do anything special on Memorial Day.” Sam took a third bite of the hotdog-potato combination.
“That’s too bad,” Lisa’s father said. “Sometimes we go up to Lake Birch, but I couldn’t borrow my buddy’s canoe this year.”
“Maybe next year, honey.” Lisa’s mother patted his hand.
“I hope so,” he said, “because pretty soon our oldest will be all grown up, off to college, and won’t have time for the rest of us. Right, Lisa Bear?”
Barbara L. Clanton - 2 - Tools of Ignorance - Lisa's Story Page 6
